this makes me sick

[fishnut9]

so today i went fishing me my buddy. hes got a boat and i asked him how hard the boating exam was online. He tells me he cheated (not disclosing how) and that it was easy to do. I cant believe that there are people out there with cheated boaters licenses. I mean didnt the government think at all when they came up with online exams. Also you think by now they would have come up with a solution. I mean even the proctors could be crooked.
One more thing i need to ask though. I registered my girlfriend as my proctor because she is the only one i know that has the time to watch me. The rules state that there is no blood relatives or related through marriage allowed. Well technically we arent married or blood relatives. We just live in the same house so is that ok to do. It never specified on common law.

[Kim473]

Its just a money grab. And as for cheating, if you do it on line you can have the book in front of you with all the answers, but any body with some common sence can pass it with out even looking in the book or studying. If the government was serious they would have some kind of practical exam, say in like a simulator or something, maybe a nintento type of thing in a regestries office. You dont even need one if your renting a boat right.

[big zeke]

The test has very little to do with competence in boating. That this person cheated is his own foolhardiness, the test is easy to pass without cheating, perhaps reading thru the book for 15 mins is all that is needed.

My beef is that the current test really is useless...how often does the average Alberta boater need to know about which type of bouy means what? The very occasional boaters (ie boat renters and folks in a fishing lodge boat, guys who couldn't tell you the difference between the stern and the bow) are completely bypassed by the testing process and these folks, due to lack of familiarity with equipment and conditions, are very at risk of having/causing problems.

To me, the permitting process does not have to be a cash grab as long as it is set up to improve competence (something the current system does not do), handing out tickets cuz you don't have this useless scrap of paper...now that's a cash grab.

Was this cooked up by the same guys who gave us the gun registry or a different brain trust?

Zeke

[honda450]

Do I need licence for my little rubber dingy? No motor just 2 small plastic oars.

[DarkAisling]

I cant believe that there are people out there with cheated boaters licenses.

I did, and I feel absolutely no remorse.

Well technically we arent married or blood relatives. We just live in the same house so is that ok to do. It never specified on common law.

Alberta has not recognized common-law marriages for ten years or so. Alberta recognizes "Interdependent Partners." You do not need to have a legal partnership agreement if you have lived together for three years or more. However, if you would like the province to recognize your partnership and you've been living together for under three years you need a legal agreement.

However, federal law does recognize common-law marriages for live-in relationships of one year or greater. As this is a federal exam you can not legally use your partner as your proctor if you have been living together for a year or more.

I but any body with some common sence can pass it with out even looking in the book or studying.

That depends entirely on the questions you get. The questions are randomly selected, and some people wind up with tests that require more "book smarts" than common sense when it comes to things like buoys and lighting.

The test has very little to do with competence in boating.

You've got that right.

[seahawkfisher]

i didn't cheat - passed the test first try without even looking at the book (took it at the boat show the first year they were instituting them). it is very easy if you use a little common sense...
i heard of a guy getting one in his dog's name, just because he could
cheers

[Beekahs]

The exam is a joke. My 12 year old son passed the test at the Outdoor boat and sportsman show in the spring. He never even looked at the book and we haven't had discussions about boating safety as we don't own a boat yet. He wanted to try and I didn't think it would cost anything; that is until he passed and I had to fork out $60. He can't even drive anything with more than 10hp.

[BlueNorther]

I aced the test without looking at the book too. Took it at BPS in Jan. I found the questions to be pretty much common scence answers. I think it is a money grab, you cant legislate stupidity.

[Winch101]

Was at Travers yesterday , you can see the results of everyone

having a licence and being educated , what a gong show ,

Its obvious that enforcement is the only teacher ....

I had a thought yesterday , do you think the guy who invented

the seadoo was watching some moron do donuts in the parking lot

and thought ...Gee there must be a way to make people on the

water idiots too..

[ericlin0122]

what is the website to take online exam?
thanks

[wildman]

yup. the exam is a JOKE.
i walked into a registations office and without cracking a book BREEZED thru it....blatant cash grab....anyone who had to cheat to pass probably needs help tying shoelaces too...

[big zeke]

I'd suspect anyone who cheats on this exam probably thinks it's harder than it is. If the person taking the exam has spent any time on a boat or has read thru the guidebook than getting a passing grade is easy.

The comment about the jetskis is good, I understood that this licensing was intended to weed them out (thus the staged timing based on boat size). Given the test is such a joke it might be counter-productive in that folks who passed the test (pretty much anyone who can breathe) now has a piece of paper that indicates that they are capable of operating a jetski.

Same sort of thing happens with ATV and skidoos but to a lesser extent, I guess larger areas for them to screw around, being limited to a waterbody tends to concentrate the morons into one spot.

If you think about it, the plan has some serious flaws. In the case of a vehicle license, there is a developed system that matches licensing to vehicle size and actually tests both theory and practise. Despite this more rigorous method a few dorks still slip thru...in the case of the boat permits it's like trying to catch minnows in a 4" mesh net.

Zeke

[Trout Addict]

They asked me what the different color lights meant on the mast of a sailboat?

Man I have a 12' 1/2 foot pontoon with an electric motor I have no idea!!!!!

[DarkAisling]

I'd suspect anyone who cheats on this exam probably thinks it's harder than it is. If the person taking the exam has spent any time on a boat or has read thru the guidebook than getting a passing grade is easy.

It depends what kind of cheating we're talking about. There are other ways to break the rules and "cheat" without cracking the book: using your other-half as proctor, writing the test in your home, etc.

They asked me what the different color lights meant on the mast of a sailboat?

Man I have a 12' 1/2 foot pontoon with an electric motor I have no idea!!!!!

Some exam takers are bombarded with questions like that one.

I know many people who have taken the test. Most people passed very easily with a couple of odd ball questions on the exam. A couple of others got slammed with crazy questions. While the test is generally pretty easy, it is a bad idea to get complacent and think it won't be a challenge. You might be one of those people who winds up with a predominately knowledge based (vs. common sense based) exam.

[Mike_W]

I think its a joke too I did mine the first year it came out without ever looking at a boat.

Has anyone ever been asked for it? I cannot remember the last time I was stopped in my boat.....just curious if it is even being enforced or if it is like the PAL and POL licences?

[sneer]

I can't remember the question, but after the exam, my brother, my Dad and myself argued about the answer to one question. We asked the instructor and turns out all 4 answers to the multiple choice were correct. WTF?

I wish exams back in university were like that!

[tbone616]

I cheated and i couldn't care less. The fact that i need a boating licence for my 9' pontoon boat with a 30# trolling motor is ridiculous and nothing more than a cash grab. I'm never going to bring an ocean liner down the Saint Laurence so i'm not gonna waste my time memorizing what buoy's mean what!
If they want to be more serious about boating they should have a course that is mandatory for boats with a certain size motor and leave me and my
max 3km/h troller alone! :2mo5pow:

[Grizzly Adams]

I gather from recent news comments, its a joke and changes are coming.

Grizz

[fishnut9]

It depends what kind of cheating we're talking about. There are other ways to break the rules and "cheat" without cracking the book: using your other-half as proctor, writing the test in your home, etc.



Some exam takers are bombarded with questions like that one.

I know many people who have taken the test. Most people passed very easily with a couple of odd ball questions on the exam. A couple of others got slammed with crazy questions. While the test is generally pretty easy, it is a bad idea to get complacent and think it won't be a challenge. You might be one of those people who winds up with a predominately knowledge based (vs. common sense based) exam.

well i guess you can call me a cheater then. But its hard for me to find someone that will be my proctor. I dont get off work till 3am and everyone else is sleeping. Also all my friends are her brothers and sisters or other relatives so i would have to find some random stranger.

[fishnut9]

I gather from recent news comments, its a joke and changes are coming.

Grizz

the only changes that came were the proctors. Even that is flawed.

[209x50]

A joke and a cash grab

[DarkAisling]

well i guess you can call me a cheater then. But its hard for me to find someone that will be my proctor. I dont get off work till 3am and everyone else is sleeping. Also all my friends are her brothers and sisters or other relatives so i would have to find some random stranger.

Which website did you use that let you write the test that late? I didn't know there were any websites that allowed 24hr testing, so that would be good info to have.

Not all of your partner's relatives are technically considered your relatives, so without going into all of the details (which are long and complicated) I'll just say that you might have been able to have one of her family members act as proctor.

Worth noting is that I have been proctor for two "completely random stranger(s)." People may be more willing to help than you realize. In addition to that, in the large urban centres (Calgary, at least) there are places where you can write the exam. While they're not open late, shift workers could write the exam before going to work. This also solves the problem of where to write the exam: vs. using ones residence.

Whether you broke the rules or not doesn't matter to me, but if you broke/break any of the rules please don't be casting stones at others who do.

[DarkAisling]

the only changes that came were the proctors. Even that is flawed.

What changes were made to what is required of/from the proctors?

[Morph1]

I cheated and i couldn't care less. The fact that i need a boating licence for my 9' pontoon boat with a 30# trolling motor is ridiculous and nothing more than a cash grab. I'm never going to bring an ocean liner down the Saint Laurence so i'm not gonna waste my time memorizing what buoy's mean what!
If they want to be more serious about boating they should have a course that is mandatory for boats with a certain size motor and leave me and my
max 3km/h troller alone! :2mo5pow:

lol I'm with you on this dude, I cheated too and don't give a flying squid what others think about it, I too find the questions rediculous, especially the one how do you dry your PFD lol I toss it in my boat overnight and guess what the next morning its dry and ready to go ...., hmmm maybe next time I should use the cloth pins and let it dry on a line hehe, the other question was when they presented 4 life jackets and I remember one looked in fare shape except had a few patches where right next one looked like it was in good shape but ZIPPPER was not visible the other 2 were just a mess so I chose the one with patches and visible zipper ..., guess what it was wrong, the right answer was the one that looked fine and had no visible zipper !!!!! I guess it was poo illustrations and it did confused me....
and yes I am also not gonna waste my time memorizing what buoy's mean,
what for ???? I never see them on any other lakes except where they mark a swimming area lol, and I don't care what most of you states here but I bet any money that 90% of you feeling all complacent don't know what the buoys mean ..., but yet again everyone is a hero over the internet !!!!
Boat Operators Card = NOTHING but a fresh easy revenue for the government!!!!!

Cheers all !!

[BlackHeart]

Took the test recently. My view is that the test is designed for an exact outcome. Some common sense questions, some stupid bouy questions and then the ones that are nowwhere in the book....like "Which federal agency has the authourity over such and such in such and such situations on such and such waters?" WT?? does it matter and where in the book was this. Didn't get that one right. After the exam it reviews your mistakes with you. Grabbed the book on that one and still could not see a clear answer to it.

Had two other wierd questions like that one....maybe I was going through it too fast and getting the them right so they need to change it up on me.

To me it appears that they cannot have people getting 100% on it or it would look bad, so they need questions that no one can get right. Most of the knowledge in the book is either common sense or irrelevant like do I really need to know what equipment needs to be on a 30M ship.

Just another way to regulate us for our own good that make some whiners feel good, annoys most of us and does nothing about the problem child (probably one that was raised[ignored and given money] by the whiners).

[Okotokian]

I suspect that the government probably isn't too worried about cheaters. I mean, before people roared around with absolutely no idea of the rules of navigation, etc. Even if people are copying while online to get the exam done they are reading the rules. It's more exposure to them than most folks had before, got to be a bit of an improvement. The process isn't, or shouldn't be, to certify sea captains and professional sailors.

[DarkAisling]

I feel it is more important to know how to access information than it is to retain a whole pile of information in your head.

When I was at SAIT, I had an instructor who always allowed us to open our books for tests. This floored me, and when I asked him about his policy he said that he felt the information we crammed into our brains for exams probably wouldn't stay with us. He felt that if we had a solid understanding of where to find the information, and how to understand it, that would be of much more value to us in the long run. I've adopted his philosophy.

[pikester]

Yup you can include me in the B.S. money grab column:thinking-006: My buddy took the test outside the Bass Pro Shop on Saturday & said it was a joke! Trust me, he doesn't know Port from Starboard or a Transom from a Keel & he got 100% on his test. He said he just skipped those questions at first when he ran into them, then I guess the answers to those questions showed up later in the test in other questions allowing him to figure it out!

If they were truly serious about regulating boats or supplying boaters with real knowledge they would up the cost to $100 bucks, make you take home & study a guide, then make you do a 20 min competency test on the water somewhere similar to a vehicle driver test. Surely with today's penchant for privatizing Government services they could find people in every community within reasonable driving distance from any lake who would be willing to make $50 bucks for twenty minutes work, with the remaining $50 going to "The Man"

[outdoors forever]

I wasn't aware that the tests were random. I challenged it last week and I found it to be a bit diffucult - there were LOTS of questions on navigation,
a few on buoys, a few on legislation, and quite a bit on emergency procedures. I passed easily enough, but I went in expecting to breeze through it in 15 minutes. From what I heard from other people the questions were super easy and borderline intellegence insulting - not the test I got.

Anyway, I paid my $ 50 bucks and now I can sleep easy at night knowing I and all my fellow boaters are far more enriched and far superior in knowledge to those who don't have their piece of paper yet!

Thank you, Government of Canada, for looking after us and, I'm sure, using our hard earned money for our complete benefit..............:thinking-006:

[whitewolf]

boating licence here is a waste of time...it doesnt mean a thing other than its the law...growing up partly in florida i had to get my captins licence and at least we had a course and study and learn the laws of the water and speed zones and stuff and navigational stuff and safety...some of that probably doesnt matter out here as most lakes you can see the other side of the lake..but the learning of safety and passing and right of way....is a must i think..but boaters exam doesnt hit that in a long shot....just my opinion tho

[fishnut9]

What changes were made to what is required of/from the proctors?

well i was told by a friend that you originally didnt need a proctor but i was probably misinformed. Also the website is boaterexam.com. They let you take the test anytime but you wont get your temporary license until 9am the next day.

[DarkAisling]

well i was told by a friend that you originally didnt need a proctor but i was probably misinformed. Also the website is boaterexam.com. They let you take the test anytime but you wont get your temporary license until 9am the next day.

I know a proctor was needed by the summer of 2008, but I don't know about anything before that.

It is very good to know that boaterexam.com has changed their testing hours. When I did the exam (on that site) you had to be done the exam by midnight in Ontario, so you had to start the exam by 9:20pm in Alberta. That was pain in the backside. I had advised two people in the last month that they had to start the exam by the time . . . guess I was wrong!

[fishnut9]

I know a proctor was needed by the summer of 2008, but I don't know about anything before that.

It is very good to know that boaterexam.com has changed their testing hours. When I did the exam (on that site) you had to be done the exam by midnight in Ontario, so you had to start the exam by 9:20pm in Alberta. That was pain in the backside. I had advised two people in the last month that they had to start the exam by the time . . . guess I was wrong!

Yeah you can take it anytime but your answers and account need to be verified afterwards but it cant be done until during open hours.